November 10, 2023, Jalandhar: In August, when the Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh Gurudwara, popularly known as ‘jahazaanwala’ or aeroplane gurudwara, ceased accepting toy airplane offerings from visitors, Rajvinder lost her only source of income.

Rajvinder, who uses solely her first name, had over the years established a modest business selling plastic toy airplanes to worshippers en route to the shrine located in Talhan village, near the Jalandhar city of Punjab. She priced each piece at Rs 100 and earned approximately Rs 10,000 monthly.

Following a directive from Amritsar-based Akal Takht, the paramount Sikh religious authority, which declared the practice inconsistent with Sikh traditions (maryada), the shrine put up a banner forbidding visitors from bringing toy airplanes.

A single mother of two teenage sons, Rajvinder shared that her estranged husband lives separately with his parents in another district of Punjab and offers no support. She resides with her own parents in Talhan and depends on selling these toys for her livelihood.

Although the shrine lifted the ban last month, her sales have yet to recover, as visitors remain unaware of the change. She lamented that she hadn’t sold a single toy that day.

The gurudwara, constructed around the ‘samadhi’ of Baba Nihal Singh, revered locally as a saint who lived 150 years ago, has been nicknamed aeroplane gurudwara due to a belief that worshipping here aids in achieving overseas migration.

Such migration, particularly to coveted destinations like Canada, the UK and the US, is a common aspiration in Punjab, particularly in the Doaba region where the shrine is located. According to V Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs, from 2016 to February 2021, approximately 4.78 lakh Punjabis emigrated for work, and an additional 2.62 lakh for education.

The belief in the shrine’s miraculous powers has fostered a micro-economy in the village centered around these miniature symbols of travel.

A shopkeeper within the gurudwara premises recounted that the trend of offering toy airplanes began more than a decade ago when a Delhi resident of Punjabi origin donated a large toy airplane following his Canadian visa approval.

It instantly drew the attention of other visitors. The act sparked a trend that soon swept through the gurudwara grounds.

The shopkeeper said he had heard the story from his father, from whom he inherited the business. Before the ban was enforced, he sold about 20 pieces daily, he said. 

The temple’s vicinity is filled with shops selling not only airplanes but also various other toys symbolising different wishes, such as plastic houses, trucks, baby boy dolls, and flags of popular migration destinations like Canada, UK, US and Australia.

Talhan, a small yet affluent village of about 2,000 homes, features upscale bungalows, well-maintained roads and numerous cars. Prominent advertisements for IELTS coaching and overseas visa assistance are seen all around, especially near the gurudwara entrance.

Most families in Talhan have at least one member living abroad, as per a shopkeeper whose son resides in the UK.

The village predominantly consists of the Ramdasia caste group, along with Jatts and other castes like Ramgarhias, Lohars, and Jheers. The local shops display images of Guru Ramdas or Ravidas, a revered figure in Sikhism, especially by the ‘Chamar’ caste group – which comes under Scheduled Castes – to which he belonged. His followers, called Ramdasias, follow the Guru Granth Sahib as their holy scripture.

In the area, as in the entire Punjab, Jatts are traditional landowners, but the Ramdasias, who are primarily in government and non-agricultural jobs, have also prospered over the years. It’s common to find members of both communities living abroad.

A shopkeeper said that if every Jatt house in Talhan boasts of a member living abroad, the Ramdasias are not far behind in this global march. “In every second Ramdasia home, a member is abroad,” he said.

The gurudwara’s history is intimately connected with local caste dynamics and the migration trend.

Baba Nihal Singh, a figure shrouded in legend and believed to be from the Ramgarhia caste, was known for his skill in crafting and repairing water well pulleys.

Legend has it that wells he worked on never dried up and produced sweet water. His untimely death while fixing a well near Talhan was viewed as a sacrificial act, elevating him to martyrdom. However, this narrative is unconfirmed and other versions exist. When asked, locals also failed to confirm if his samadhi, where the gurudwara now stands, is his burial site or cremation spot.

The shrine itself was established in 1953 at the site of the samadhi, after a caretaker who lit a daily jyot (sacred flame) there died. A traditional annual fair at the samadhi predates the gurudwara.

Over two decades ago, as migration increased the flow of dollars into the region, donations to the gurudwara rose significantly.

About twenty years ago, a dispute arose between the local Dalit residents and Jatt Sikhs over the distribution of donations, then amounting to around Rs 5 crore annually, primarily from overseas Punjabis.

The gurudwara was built by and managed by a 13-member committee, mostly Jatts. Notably absent from this administrative body were members of the Ramdasia community, whose socio-economic status and numbers had not translated into a proportional voice in the shrine’s affairs.

When the Ramdasias’ demands for representation were repeatedly ignored, they sought legal recourse in 1999, securing a court order for at least two committee positions.

However, tensions escalated when Jatt members boycotted the election meeting in January 2003, leading to a standoff. The Ramdasias put up posters of Guru Ramdas at the site and declared it to be a samadhi sthal while the Jatt side tore the posters and declared it to be a gurudwara.

In June 2003, during a village festival, clashes erupted between the Ramdasias and Jatts, culminating in riots and a police shooting that resulted in a Dalit casualty.

This led to intensified Ramdasia protests and a subsequent administration-imposed curfew in Talhan and nearby areas. The Jatt community responded with a silent boycott against the Dalits, further exacerbating tensions.

This cold strategy included denying them essential resources like fodder from their fields for cattle and even barring access to agricultural fields for basic needs like defecation. Furthermore, they refused to purchase milk from the Dalits, adding economic strain to the already fraught relations.

Ramdasias, however, were not dependent on field labour, a role often filled by migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Pradip Kumar, 35, is son of one such migrant. His father moved to Punjab from UP to work as an agricultural labourer. Pradip, on the other hand, sells toy airplanes outside the gurudwara. During the 2003 conflict in Talhan, Pradip was not a resident of the area, leaving him largely unaware of the details of the strife that unfolded.

Interestingly, he recently converted to Sikhism, vowing to give up meat, liquor and tobacco, and embracing the turban, at a ceremony at the gurudwara.

Despite the Dalits’ complaints to the SC commission about the boycott, and the commission’s endorsement of their concerns, no substantial action was taken. During this period, the Congress party, which counted Ramdasias among its core supporters in Punjab, was in power both at the state and Centre. High-profile visits by leaders like Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Amarinder Singh were made to address the situation.

According to the 2011 census, Ramdasia Sikhs and Jatt Sikhs each make up around 20 percent of Punjab’s total population.

Eventually, the state government took control of the gurudwara and incorporated two Ramdasia members into its management. There has been peace since then.

Over the past decade, the gurudwara has become renowned as a place where aspirations for overseas migration are believed to be realised.

Gurudwara manager Manjeet Singh said that although the management viewed the offering of toy airplanes as superstitious and contrary to Sikh traditions, they had to yield to public sentiment.

Despite the continued display of the banner, visitors are no longer barred from bringing toy airplanes. However, the toys are no longer allowed to be placed in the same hall as the Guru Granth Sahib. A space has been allotted in a nearby hall. Children of visitors are free to play with and take the toy offerings home.

Manjeet Singh instructed a young sewadar to escort this correspondent to the langar hall for ‘prasad’. The sewadar, wearing casual attire, shared that he had himself offered a toy airplane and, awaiting his Canadian visa application outcome, had taken up voluntary service at the shrine in hopes of his wish being fulfilled.

The practice of offering miniatures representing personal desires is not unique to this shrine or Sikhism, and is widely prevalent in various religious sites.

Examples include the Chilkur Balaji temple in Hyderabad, dubbed the ‘Visa Balaji temple,’ and the Chamatkari Hanuman temple in Delhi’s Neb Sarai, where devotees pen their aspirations to migrate abroad in red ink on a piece of paper and offer to the deity.

At the Talhan gurudwara, however, the practice was prohibited for some time but eventually prevailed.